


The Best Friend

by PrincesaPetalito



Category: Junior Express (TV)
Genre: Gen, Grief/Mourning, Past Character Death, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23292061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincesaPetalito/pseuds/PrincesaPetalito
Summary: 6-year-old Arnoldo earns a Special gift from his Nonna who just passed away.The gift? A wooden doll named Francis she crafted from scratch with her own hands and a lot of love,who was built to care for,protect and guard his owner and best friend.
Relationships: Arnoldo & Francis (Junior Express)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	The Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Are we setting up another AU? This is purely platonic for now but it's a cute idea and another AU possibility I'll have in hands,in case canon goes to shit,which I'm sure it will 🤣  
> Shout out to my loyal reader bean,she was reader first,best friend I ever had second 💙

Arnoldo secured the small object carefully in his trembling,tubby little hands as a seemingly inifinte flow of tears cascaded down his reddened,chubby cheeks,his Nonna was gone and he still couldn't bring his small,child mind to believe it,good and kind people like her should never be allowed to die.

She should never be allowed to leave him,how could she do this to him?! Arnoldo will never understand it.

Nonna loved to craft wooden toys,furniture and objects in general,she had,in fact,hand crafted many toys for him,his siblings,cousins and for her own children before them,Nunciatina,Arnoldo's mother kept all of her own in a safe,special place,she even had a favorite wooden doll herself,the fierce,blonde woman told her sweet yet hot-tempered son that that doll was her best friend since she was his age,her name is Giovanna and no one else was ever allowed to play with her or even touch her.

The young,aspiring Chef always thought it was really unfair,Giovanna looked so pretty with her golden hair and big,glowing chestnut brown eyes...why wouldn't his Mamma want her doll to be his and his siblings' friend too?

How could she be so selfish?

Yet now..... _Now_ the overweight,brunet boy finally understood his mother's reasons.He cradled his own wooden doll, _his own_ best friend closer to his soft chest,head plopping against messy,dark curls of hair that the aspiring Chef swore nearly felt real,as he tried,albeit unsuccesfully to keep his loud sobs at bay.

Arnoldo needed Francis close more than ever right now,he couldn't allow anyone else to see him cry like this,the short-tempered boy kissed the top of the lifeless doll's fluffy head as he declared in between muffled sobs and hiccups.

"You are all that's left of her now,Francis!!! I love you so much,I really wish you were real."

* * *

Exactly a week ago,a bed bound and stubborn Nonna finally finished what she considered her finest craft,she never told any of her other grandchildren but Arnoldo has always been her favorite,he's just like her in so many aspects and she could tell he was meant for great things in the future just like she had been.

_Not_ because he or she were 'destined' for them,she doesn't believe in those silly things,she believes in earning things through raw determination and hard work so just like her,he will be stubborn and determined enough to conquer anything he wants,any way he wants it.

Exactly like he already is now as a matter of fact.

The young,aspiring Chef is only 6 years old and Nonna can already see how proud he will make her,hell,she _already_ feels proud of him _now_ ,the elderly woman ran her wrinkly,tired hands softly over the volumous,dark,smooth curls at the top of the head of her biggest work of art to date and the best friend her Arnoldo requested so incessantly for months on end,it was finally done and ready to be given to it's rightful owner.

_His Francis_.

* * *

Francis opened his dark olive eyes slowly,trying to comprehend his surroundings,he was completely unable to understand a single thing that was currently happening around him aside from the feeling of being crushed 'to death' by a large set of doughy arms,head buried deep into an incredibly soft,warm surface,the scrawny boy's first instinct was to scream at the top of his newfound lungs.

Arnoldo had very much cried himself to sleep at the park bench,his Iron grip on a (then) wooden Francis never giving up the entire time.

Up until now.....

By instinct,the Italian,brunet boy woke up startled from his short,exhausted nap,he screamed back just as loud,throwing Francis off his lap instantly,a Francis who looked.... 'too big' now.

A lost,dazed,dizzy newfound boy with curly hair and double colored eyes spun around in circles in the middle of the park before his stick thin legs took him running away without much of his own control,not looking back.

Arnoldo looked just as lost,his best friend that Nonna gifted him with so much love,literally magically just ran away from his ever welcoming arms.

Yet someone else leaving him,people are tending to do that a lot lately.Arnoldo bowed his head,fidgeting with his small,thick hands,rubbing one against the other.

The young,aspiring Chef only felt like crying harder.

* * *

"Can we please stop running? I think I'm dying!!!" a breathless,high pitched,strained voice called out faintly in the far distance,Francis found himself stopping dead in his tracks without really wanting to,the raven-haired boy felt like his feet was suddenly glued to the ground beneath him,surprised to realize he was out of breath as well.

That voice......it's so familiar..... The former wooden toy looked back to find.... A boy.... falling rashly to his knees with trembling legs as if they had simply stopped working while he started to cry and sob again.

During the few seconds this had happened,Francis found his thin legs already taking him back running towards the distressed child on the ground as quick flashes started to show on his mind,taking up space, _his memories._

His name is _Francis_ ,he is meant to serve and be a best friend,the boy some meters away from him is called _Arnoldo_ , _his_ new best friend.Nonna,Francis' creator spoke so fondly every single day she worked on him of the fierce kid who dreamed of being a Grand Chef and owning his own Restaurant.

She would tell Francis things along the lines of caring for Arnoldo,making sure he stays in line,making sure he's happy and never misses a single meal,making sure he accomplishes all his dreams and never loses sight of his goals while always staying humble.

Whatever all of this is supposed to mean,Francis' current 8-year-old child mind figures these are things he's supposed to figure out when they get older.

Is he even _allowed_ to get older? The former wooden figure pondered to himself as he fell to his knees nearly on autopilot in front of a beyond miserable looking Arnoldo.

Francis felt a strange shot of uncomfortable pain go through his small chest,the absolute dire _need_ to get his aspiring Chef out of this extremely troubling situation as soon as humanly possible.

The unrelenting,everlasting need to see his Arnoldo _smiling_ ,to see him _happy,_ it makes sense,it's part of his Mission.

And Francis is willing to do anything to make that happen.

The raven-haired boy started shy and slow,trying to hug Arnoldo as tight as the brunet,Italian boy had previously done to him not long ago,yet from Francis it only felt awkward and stiff.

Arnoldo leaned heavily forward into the comforting gesture regardless,almost making the older,slender boy fall back,yet he found their balance,keeping both boys in place as Arnoldo's sobs subsided into soft hiccups against one of the other boy's frail shoulders.

Those adult related questions can be answered with time,right now Francis will do what he has always been meant to since he was first conceived.

Take care of his best friend, _his Arnoldo_.


End file.
